


not a burden

by enbyamaguchi



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fair Game Week (RWBY), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, i did both hurt And comfort for day 5 hehe but it's mostly comfort i'd say, uhm this is my first rwby fic so feedback is much appreciated <3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:27:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23240227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyamaguchi/pseuds/enbyamaguchi
Summary: qrow feels dread, despite salem's defeat. clover's there to help. // written for fair game week, day 5: hurt/comfort
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Kudos: 26





	not a burden

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi hi! this is my first fic for fair game, and my first fic for rwby at all so any feedback is greatly appreciated! i hope you enjoy!!

they’ve done it. they’ve found a way to defeat salem and they’ve successfully locked up all of her followers… well,  _ almost _ all of her partners. tyrian is still out there, gods know where, but at least he’s the only one that could potentially cause them any trouble.

so why doesn’t qrow feel overwhelmed with joy, or relief, or— or  _ any _ kind of positive emotion? he should be wanting to celebrate, with his nieces and the rest of the kids and- and clover. 

clover.

he’s found that name running through his mind a lot lately, whether it’s thoughts of admiration of the man’s confidence on and off the battlefield, or thoughts of shock over how he can be so  _ kind _ and caring towards qrow, or how handsome he i—

okay, no. no. nope. qrow absolutely does  _ not _ think about that last thing. never. nope.

he finds his thoughts circling back around to the current situation at hand: how he should be feeling about salem’s defeat versus how he actually feels. how he should be celebrating and basking in the air of triumph with the others, but how he’s actually just sitting here, in the bed in his room at the academy, feeling anything but… anything but how he’s supposed to feel. qrow feels dread; not quite the same dread that had been plaguing him during the war against salem - no, this is a different kind of dread. it kind of feels like— 

a knocking on his door pulls him out of his thoughts, and in a way, he’s thankful. he doesn’t want to think about how long he might’ve been sitting there spiralling into sadness because of his own mind’s products if it hadn’t been for that knock. 

“door’s open, come on in,” qrow calls as loudly as he can manage.

the midnight blue door creaks open just a sliver, and a familiar head peaks in - clover’s. he looks in qrow’s direction and smiles, opening the door fully to let himself in. he’s… not wearing his uniform, shockingly enough. in fact, he’s dressed as if he’s ready to go out, wearing a shamrock green -  _ ha _ \- button-up tucked into white pants. the outfit does wonders for bringing out his eyes, and his muscles, and— and other places. yeah. 

“hi,” qrow croaks out, one hand immediately reaching to rub the back of his neck as he fights a blush from spreading over his cheeks.

“hey,” clover says softly, smile never leaving his face. “i was just about to head out with the others, but i noticed you were missing. you deserve to celebrate, too, you know. we seriously couldn’t have done this without you, qrow.”

damn. seriously,  _ how _ is he so  _ nice _ all the time? 

“yeah, i, uh… i was just— i was just getting ready, to, uh, to go out with you guys, lucky charm,” qrow responds, immediately wanting to punch himself afterwards. there’s no  _ way _ clover’s going to buy that.

“sure. the fact that you’re sitting in bed dressed in your typical clothes totally tells me that.” clover’s tone is very clearly sarcastic, but it holds no bitterness or any kind of malice. actually, there’s almost a sort of warmth in the younger man’s words.

qrow sighs. yeah, clover definitely wasn’t buying it.

“what’s going on, qrow? really. you know you can talk to me,” clover continues softly upon the lack of a response from the other man. he makes his way to the bed and sits beside qrow, turning to face him.

“i dunno...” qrow realises he’s still rubbing his neck, that he’s probably been doing that for an unnaturally long time. his arm drops, now resting in his lap, and he stares down at it to hide the light red that begins to colour his cheeks. “shouldn’t you be headed back to the others by now? i don’t want to get in the way of your night out. i know you probably don’t get a lot of those anyway.”

“stop doing that.” 

qrow looks up, surprised at the sudden firmness in clover’s tone - a notable change from the softness and the friendliness that it held before.

“stop doing what?” he asks, confused.

“stop ignoring my question! i sat down next to you and told you that you could talk to me for a reason. i don’t care if i have to miss going out with the others, i’m sure i’ll have another opportunity for that in the future. what i might not have again is a chance to be there for  _ you. _ to make sure that  _ you’re _ okay, that you’re being cared for the way you  _ deserved _ to be cared for. so… sitting here, talking to you - that’s more important to me than going out dancing, or going to a fancy restaurant, or whatever they had planned for tonight. in fact…” he pulls his scroll out of his back pocket, seemingly opening up one of his contacts and sending off a quick message. “there. i told them i wasn’t feeling so well all of a sudden and that i’ll sit it out this time. now, do you want to talk about it or not? because if you don’t, then that’s completely okay.”

for a moment, qrow feels like he’s lost his voice entirely. he feels like clover’s words are literally sinking into him; settling in his mind, making a permanent place for themselves in there.

_ you deserve to be cared for. _

“qrow?” 

clover’s voice shakes qrow from his thoughts, and he doesn’t know why, but tears begin to cloud his vision. why does he feel like he’s about to cry? qrow branwen never cries. not in front of other people, at least. 

qrow can make out a frown on clover’s face as the younger man moves closer to qrow and wraps his arms around him, holding the teary eyed man close to his chest. and for some reason, that’s what breaks qrow. he lets out a sob that squeezes clover’s heart because of how  _ strangled _ it sounds, like qrow was giving it everything he had not to let it escape him.

and once that first sob is out, another comes. and another, and another, until his body is wracked with cries that have been withheld for months, maybe even years. and all clover can think to do is hold him closely, not knowing just how much even that simple gesture means to qrow; how safe and loved it makes qrow feel. gods…  _ loved. _ that’s something qrow hasn’t felt for a long time.

“i- i know i should be happy,” qrow whispers, the silence making it easy for clover to hear him. “but all i can think about is how- how if i stick around, the happiness that the others, and the happiness that  _ you _ are feeling right now will all be ripped away eventually.”

“qrow—”

“that’s what always happens, clover!” qrow shouts, exhaling shakily afterwards.

the sudden change in volume and the use of his actual name makes clover flinch in shock, but his heart still breaks at the way qrow’s voice cracks in a way he’s never heard before. 

“how can  _ i _ be happy knowing that  _ your _ happiness is at stake? because of me? something is bound to go wrong if i stay, and i think it would be best if i—”

“if you left,” clover finishes. the placidity of his voice causes qrow to calm down, his sobs quieting into jagged breaths. “you think you should leave because you think your semblance is going to make something go wrong, and ruin everyone’s good mood.”

“i don’t  _ think _ that, cloves. i- i know it.”

“well, it’s not true, damn it!” clover exclaims, startling qrow so much he sits up straight to stare at the other man, no longer in his embrace.

clover’s face turns a light shade of pink, and it almost makes qrow smile because it’s so… cute. yeah, cute. he thinks that’s the right word. 

“i- sorry,” clover continues, voice back to a soft, gentle tone. “what i mean is… i- look, qrow, you have to stop blaming yourself for  _ every little thing _ that goes wrong, okay? even- even every  _ major _ thing that goes wrong can’t possibly be your fault! this tendency you have to blame yourself for even the smallest inconvenience has made you believe that you’re a problem for and a burden on everyone who loves you and cares about you, and that’s… not true. at all.” he opens his arms in an inviting gesture and shoots qrow a warm smile, and really, how could  _ anyone _ say no to that? qrow crawls back into the taller man’s embrace and sighs softly as clover wraps his arms around him once again. “like i’ve said before, you’ve had more a positive impact on the people in your life than you realise. whatever you think of yourself right now, that’s not what you are. you’re  _ not _ a problem, qrow, and you sure as hell aren’t a burden on anyone. and the people who choose to be in your life aren’t there because they have to be, or because they pity you; they’re there because they choose to be, because they want to show you how much they care for you.  _ i _ want to show you that, qrow.”

silence. 

more silence.

and… even more silence. clover begins to worry he may have gone a bit too overboard with that last part, but then he hears a familiar raspy chuckle.

  
“what, lucky charm, are you tryin’ to make me cry again?” qrow jokes, although his voice is thick with emotion and it makes clover’s heart swell with… something. something  _ good. _

“no, i’m  _ trying _ to make you feel  _ loved. _ ”

qrow smiles. “well, you’re doin’ a pretty damn good job of it.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! comments and/or kudos would make me so happy if you'd like to leave them. you can find me on tumblr at yourfavorite-fairytale and on twitter at @anthonynormans!


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